Initiatives

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In the 1990s, Congress enacted major changes to our banking policies. These changes untethered banks from their communities, allowed federally insured banks to engage in speculative trading, and fueled a massive wave of mergers.

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Access to the Internet is an essential infrastructure for any community that cares about economic development, quality of life, and educational opportunities. Unfortunately, most communities are presently dependent on a few unaccountable absentee corporations that act as gatekeepers to...

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Wind and sun are available everywhere, so renewable energy can be economically harnessed at small scales across the country. This nature of renewable energy, and the exponential increase of renewable energy generation, promises to decentralize the nation’s grid system. ...

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At the founding of the American Republic the word “private” had pejorative connotations. Derived from the Latin word “privare”, private meant to divide or tear apart. A privateer was a pirate. The word “public” was an honorable adjective, often...

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ILSR's Waste to Wealth program helps communities across the country create policies and practices that address citizens' environmental concerns and economic needs. We help citizens fight the incinerators and landfills that pollute their air and water, and drive property...

| Written by John Farrell| 2 Comments| Updated on Jun20, 2013The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/obamas-climate-policy/

When President Obama unveils his climate policy proposal in the coming days, he should focus on the one key element of successful climate and energy policy. It’s not about utilities or incentives or numbers, it’s about ownership.

Climate-protecting energy policy succeeds when communities can keep their energy dollars local by directly owning and profiting from investments in renewable energy.

Look at Denmark, with wind power capacity sufficient for 28% of its electricity use. When the world’s nations descended on Copenhagen in 2009 for the climate conference, attendees could have gleaned their most important lesson by gazing across the water at the Middelgrunden offshore wind farm – 50% owned by over 10,000 Copenhagen residents. Local ownership like this was the centerpiece of building over 4,000 megawatts of wind power in Denmark, increasing energy independence by letting ordinary citizens collectively own wind farms that brought money right back into their community. Ownership let Danes focus on their own energy independence and economy. Concern for the climate was secondary.

Andrew Cumbers of the UN Research Institute for Social Development explains the ongoing strength of the Danish commitment to renewable energy:

The participation of communities in the ownership and development of the technology has been a critical factor in the successful growth of renewable energy capacity. Surveys suggest around 70 per cent of the population are in favour of wind farms with only around 5 per cent against (Soerensen et al 2003), figures that are far higher than found elsewhere. (emphasis added)

Despite numerous attempts by various political factions to curtail the renewable energy transition (most frequently citing high costs), Germans remain stolidly committed to growing renewable energy, with over 60% willing to pay more to continue its expansion. A survey of Germans towns suggest that ownership, more than anything else, has built this steadfast political support for a low carbon energy future.

Evidence that ownership holds the key to political success lies closer to home, as well. After a near-death experience at the polls, Ontario’s Liberal Party revised their renewable energy program to prioritize new wind and solar projects that sport local ownership and public support. Most U.S. state renewable portfolio standards include language that requires or prefers qualifying projects to be in state,* to link the economic and environmental outcomes. These statutes have survived an all-out assault by the corporate-funded conservative lobbying group ALEC. And one should not ignore the power of having the Atlanta Tea Party testifying alongside solar power advocates against monopoly utility Georgia Power, arguing that more people should be able to generate their own energy.

No climate proposal from President Obama will sail past Republican opposition (see: Waxman-Markey), but his greatest chance for a climate legacy lies in empowering Americans to take control – with their votes and their dollars – of their own energy future.

About John Farrell

John Farrell directs the Energy Self-Reliant States and Communities program at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and he focuses on energy policy developments that best expand the benefits of local ownership and dispersed generation of renewable energy. More

This is so true. Since I’ve first invested in my own solar PV system, I have made the big mistake buying shares of large companies related to the manufacturing of renewable energy like solar and wind. Of course I was wrong thinking my investment was for the good and potentially profitable. I wasn’t helping those companies and I lost a lot of my savings. But then I realized I could buy shares of locally owned enterprises that limit the vote of shareholders to ONE, no matter how many shares that person holds. Also, many of those companies put a cap on the number of shares you can buy. They invest only in renewable energy and allow for private persons to invest in state of the art wind and solar technology. The best of all: being a shareholder allows me to buy their electricity. It’s really a win-win-win situation.

David Keller

Buying locally generated renewable power is so important.

What is the economic model, however, for maximizing distributed power – i.e., rooftop/parking lot solar? Vs. the desire to create profit centers for investors (local, regional or national/industrial) by increasing centralized power generation that can be sold into the wholesale market?

What is the economic model for maximizing efficiencies and conservation, to reduce demands in the first place? That route, of course, reduces electricity sales, and reduces income for the utilities, whether publicly owned or investor owned.

Here in Sonoma County CA, the county government is setting up a Community Choice Aggregation new public power agency (“Sonoma Clean Power Authority”) to go into competition with PG&E. But the protections and oversight for ratepayers are weak. Nuclear and coal will still be part of the portfolios of contracts for the bulk of electricity to be purchased – despite a cheerleading campaign to get cities to sign up and join the authority asap ‘to save the planet’ with renewables. Local investors and insiders are lining up to get contracts to build new solar generation. Creation of this new multibillion dollar public enterprise is still without a publicly available business plan and understanding of finances.

Governance of community-serving power generation is a critical piece of the picture. We need to be able to get to a better environment soon, but we also need to create and support public institutions based on respect, trust and cooperation. That will take yet more work; the same mindsets that got us into trouble using technologies will not get us out of trouble with new technologies – our human relationships are key.

A blog visualizing a distributed renewable energy future by ILSR’s John Farrell: Read